RUSSELL: Caps doomed by bad call, sloppy play in Game 6 loss

For the first time in the best-of-seven first round series between the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals and the up-start Carolina Hurricanes, the team that scored the first goal of the game lost the contest.

That team was the Caps. The winning team was the Canes. That means we get a Game 7 at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night.

It appeared as if the Caps had tied the game at 3-3 with Evgeny Kuznetsov's drive and push to the net. The NHL officiating crew immediately waved off the apparent goal and did not change the call after review when the Caps challenged the call.

The NHL replay review system said that "Alex Ovechkin interfered with Petr Mrazek by pushing his pad." Per Rule 69.3, "If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed."

Here's my spin: It's a bad rule and a bad interpretation. From the reverse angle via NBC Sports Washington's coverage, you can see Ovechkin's stick making contact with Mrazek's pad first and then the puck trickles in behind Mrazek.

We could not see for sure if Ovechkin's stick actually made contact with the puck after that, but it's believed that it did.

The momentum of Ovechkin's force from crashing the net does contribute to the puck going in behind Mrazek, but it's not the typical definition of goaltender interference, which would result in a two minute penalty for the player that interferes with the goalie.

The NHL is saying that the goal was scored because of the interference. However, Ovechkin's contact didn't prevent Mrazek from making the save, in my opinion, as is standard for goaltender interference. This is an extension to the rule.

Mrazek did not have full control of the puck behind him and the play was not whistled dead, allowing Ovechkin to poke at what he interprets as a loose puck, without a whistle blowing the play dead..

If he doesn't interfere with the goaltender's ability to make a save (he didn't) and the play had not been whistled dead, some contact in the crease has to be allowed.

Rules are rules, it doesn't mean that they are good rules.

For our "Five Duds" of the night:

1. NHL Officiating takes the cake here for not only the controversial call above, but also because of a terrible penalty called against Dmitry Orlov for embellishment late in the second period. There were other calls that could have gone either way, but those two had a huge impact on the game. The Caps lost a power play opportunity in a 2-2 game on the Orlov incident because the first call was against the Hurricanes. At least they didn't screw the Caps over on a blatant high stick against Justin Williams as he knocked down a puck on a rush and converted it for a goal, washing it out immediately.

2. Evgeny Kuznetsov: He was better in the third period, including a couple of chances that put heat on Carolina and the play on what he thought was the game-tying goal, but Kuznetsov was sloppy with the puck for the first two periods and even at times in the third. Kuznetsov wound up with four shots-on-goal and a couple of takeaways, but he also had three giveaways.

3. Caps Puck Management: It was good in the first period and not very good for the next 30 minutes or so of the game. Washington turned the puck over, they couldn't gain entry into the Hurricanes defensive zone, their passes were sloppy and they couldn't generate a good forecheck, which was huge in the Game 5 beatdown.

4. Jonas Siegenthaler: I hate to do this, but his turnover led directly to Carolina's second goal of the night. His stick appeared to jam into the boards on a clear, which wound up going right to Carolina and then quickly behind Braden Holtby.

5. Caps Defense: The six-man group was a combined minus-five on the night. They didn't play positionally bad, but some bad breaks (Siegenthaler) and the first goal (after a penalty expired and a broken stick) were unfortunate. The go-ahead and ultimately game-winning goal by Jordan Staal was a result of the Caps not being able to get control of a loose puck, and the fourth Carolina marker was a deflection by Justin Williams, who was allowed to set up shop in front of Holtby.